Southrnfresh 11 Recap
Many of you may have seen all you needed to see from Southrnfresh 11. But I have been trying my hardest to get this up at a decent time. But after 4 months I have finally gotten the time to put a post together for the coverage. First all I have to thank everyone that came out and the long list of vendors that continue to support the event every year. I always say if people continue to show up, I will continue to host the event, and once again you all out did yourselves and we may have had the biggest crowd this year.
It feels great to have to say that every year, and I am forever grateful. Every year I am faced with the thought of not being relevant or able to compete with some of my peers. But I have come to realize how special our annual event is to the community. It fascinates me to see the people that have been around since the early days still building and active in the community. But now they are accompanied by their kids passing on their passion to their next generation. Having that responsibility is absolutely priceless to our community. While many may think that the scene is so different these days, its really the same.
While this newer generation may seem to be unhinged and reckless from the outside looking in. Its no different from us on a different scale minus the constant overwhelming interference of social media. For us old folks, it was easy for us to focus on our build and stay in our lane and follow through with what we wanted to do, and what we had planned for our builds. Today, you can start out with a plan and with a few clicks you are in a group of people that either think like you or are telling you your plan sucks and it is not going to work. No matter how strong minded you are it will affect you. Some people take it with a grain of salt and continue on their plan and execute it. On the other side, you have people that will consistently look for that approval of others and if it is not received positivity they are out. Its terrible that social media affects people this way especially with something that is so objective.
What this generation has done, is take advantage of what the scene offers and become entrepreneurs and building their own brands. Quiting their jobs and being their own bosses at an early age. At first I felt a way about people just popping up with a brand and a tent and selling merchandise. I realized it was my own ignorance, based on my journey from 2010 to now. Starting as a repost blog, creating our own content, moving on to events and merchandise. I was puzzled how someone can skip all those steps and just jump out the window and start branding themselves. But in this fast paced generation its the only way to be successful and to stay relevant. My process with Southrnfresh has always been serving the automotive community that I was apart of and not making a move unless it was providing progress to our community. It goes back to the roots of Southrnfresh and proving a point to the rest of the world and highlighting our community to the rest of the world. I felt like the point was made years ago, and we slowed down and just enjoyed the ride. The best part of that ride has been watching and being motivated by the newer generation and trying to keep up with what is going on. I feel obligated to continue the annual tradition of Southrnfresh and help blend the new and older generation and keep our community true.
Every year I try to focus my energy on a specific group of people and have them come out to the event. After attending Hondafest last year in Macon I realized how many Hondas that were still in Georgia that I have not seen in past events. I made an effort to reach to a few of the owners and the extra effort paid off. That may seem like a normal occurrence to some, but outside of the newer generation Hondas. Most of the 90s and 2000s classics that we once remember have been a rare sight the last few years at most events. Big shoutout to all the classic Honda owners that came out!
Michael’s EG Civic
Elliot’s Civic Coupe
Matthew’s Integra
Chris’s Varis FK8 Type R
This year our tickets memorialized our fallen brother Tyler Clayton owner of Koruworks. While Koruworks continues to thrive thanks to Gregg , Ryan , Adam , Sebastian, and the rest of the extended crew. Southrnfresh was one of if not the only car show that Tyler would always make a strong effort to attend. No matter how down his illness had him, he always made it out to the event to show his face. Its tough seeing all his cars at the event without him, but I continue to be motivated by how he built Koruworks and stayed true to what it has always been about.
One of Tyler’s cars in attendance was his S13 that he had recently completed last year.
Alexander Grant’s X100 Mark II and Tyler Clayton’s X100 Mark II making their debut
Eric of Sir Wraps RB25 powered Rocket Bunny S13 – Top 20 Winner . This car has been a labor of love for Eric over the past 6-7 years, grateful that he was finally able to bring out for the first time at Southrnfresh 11.
Heat Lightning’s Mark II and Chaser
A few Skylines from the Speedgate crew
Amanda Millette’s Tommy Kaira R33
Carlos’ Skyline R34 Debuting the new KRNC Forged Noblesse wheel
Khai’s Nissan S15
Z1 Motorsports Twin Z32 – Top 20 Winner
Justin Wright’s E36
Kevin Lam’s BMW M3
Hazz’s M3 Competition
Alex Lim’s RWB Cabriolet
Ben’s Porsche 997
Mo’s Porsche 996
Heather’s Porsche 964
Edwin’s VW Golf – Top 20 Winner
Jeremy’s CLK Black Series
Matt Mummert’s Audi A6
Yan’s Lexus LS
PMD VIP debuted their Lexus LS build to Southrnfresh 11.
Tee’s Aimgain LS460
Alexander’s Cima
Tommy Phamm’s Lexus GS
Gary’s Mustang GT
Ralph’s Toyota MR2
Courtland’s Lexus RC
The trophies this year started as an idea for a basic wheel design with “Southrnfresh Top 20” engraved on the spokes. The idea of making them multi-piece ended up being easier than a full one piece wheel. Once we set that up, we started to explore the idea of making different faces and possibly different colors. Once we decided to create different faces we then thought about how they will be displayed. The simple approach was a basic mount, but we then considered allowing the wheels to spin.
The major component of making the awards spin were the hubs. The hubs were built with ceramic skateboard bearings with studs attached to them so that they can be mounted like real wheels. The awards were to be bolted on the hub with small custom made nuts designed like lug nuts. Once we made the lug nuts we had to make a tool to remove the lug nuts off. Of course they could not be just a normal tool, they had to be engraved “SF” tools acting as a lug nut key.
We had to scrap the original idea of engraving ” Southrnfresh Top 20 ” on all the wheel spokes. We could not figure out a way to make it work without compromising some of the designs. The designs were made to mimic iconic designs in our culture of past and present.
The final pieces were the outer lip and inner barrel engraved with “Southrnfresh” for authenticity.
Fully assembled and ready for powder coating.
Ashton at The Flower Shop Coatings in Covington, Ga went above and beyond on getting these done for the event. With so many pieces and color options it was so tough to pick color combinations. Some of the finishes were my choice, but for most of them I left it up to Ashton to do his thing and make it cool. Even though the awards were built by a mad man behind the scenes and assembled by myself, they were sponsored by Atlanta Speed Company and KRNC Forged Wheels.
Trophies at shows has always been a touchy subject in our community. I have said time and time again that I can not find it in me to not host these events and not award the best of the best with some sort of appreciation. I do know that most people will come out and support just for the love of Southrnfresh, but I feel like it is necessary to make it worthwhile for some. I am not upset at anyone that attends events to win trophies. But it becomes an issue when people feel entitled to win, and take the competitive fun out of it. I always want the trophies to be special and something that the recipients will treasure for their hard work. Hopefully the awards made a statement this year. Topping them will be a tough task, but we have a few ideas.
Justin Butera and his LS Swapped Toyota Chaser
Matthew Crumpton and his Acura Integra
Osvaldo and his Ford F250
XpensiveLS – Tchalla500
Charles Smith and his Acura NSX
Gary Simpson and his Ford Mustang
Christian and his FRS
Ralph and his Toyota MR2
Eric and his Nissan 240Sx
Z1 Motorsports and their Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo
Kurshid and his Honda Civic
Alexander Grant and his Toyota Chaser
Nick and his Toyota BRZ
Adam Holt and his Acura Integra
Will and his Honda S2000
Tommy Phamm and his Lexus GS430
Alex Lim and his RWB Porsche 993
Edwin and his Volkswagen Jetta
Andre Rivera and his Honda Civic EK
Dustin Williams and his Lexus IS300 * not pictured
Again thank you to everyone that attended and supported the event. And even a bigger shoutout to the vendors and sponsors that made this event possible.
Thanks to KHRIS H. and 4Sythe Media for the photos
We are set for Southrnfresh 12 March 8th 2025.
